Love, or whatever
by sixoxox
Summary: Skimmons / Mockingnerd college AU.
1. Part I - Chapter I

**Part I**

**Chapter I:**

"Can I take a picture of you?"

Jemma raised her head from the table, willing her eyes to stay open on their own. The girl across from her casually resting her chin on the table. The library noticeably quieter than it had been twenty minutes earlier when Jemma had fallen asleep, nose buried in an open copy of _Principles of Biochemistry_. Jemma Simmons had only been in the United States for two years. Her father's job had forced them to leave the suburbs of London and head to the suburbs of New York City. Jemma wasn't thrilled, but she got by. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined it would be. Unfortunately she hadn't gotten along very well with most of the students in her high school. They looked at her like she was some sort of alien, with her prim collared blouses and button up sweaters and well above average aptitude for science. But the school had a great lab and intelligent teachers. She had wanted to go to university back in England, but her parents had other ideas. She didn't know how she ended up studying biochemistry at a liberal arts college, but it worked. And for a biochemistry course at a liberal arts college it was surprisingly difficult. Jemma wasn't falling behind in her coursework, but it was easy for her to see how other students were. She spent most of her free time in the library. Studying. Every Friday evening, after she had finished her homework for the week, she ended up in the library. Pouring over textbooks from classes she would be taking over the next four years. And sometimes falling asleep on top of them, apparently. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if I could take a picture of you," the girl spoke words like iron. Skye, long brown hair and a blue flannel, had been wandering the State University of New York campus in Purchase looking for subjects for her photography assignment. The semester was only a few weeks underway and she already regretted considering photography as her major. It's not that there wasn't inspiration. There was. Everywhere. And especially in a sudden girl asleep on a biochemistry textbook. But Skye just wasn't as into it as she had been in high school. She considered that maybe it was the teacher. Or maybe the school. "It's for some dumb assignment for my photography class. Something pretentious like capturing human emotion in fleeting moments." Jemma's lips formed a loose smile as Skye explained herself. "You looked nice asleep."

"Then I'm afraid it's too late to take a picture now, isn't it?" Jemma

"I've decided that it's my policy to ask permission before taking photos. It wouldn't be very nice. One day you'll be at an art gallery and see a photo of yourself asleep in a college library and you'll be upset."

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" The beginning of a yawn almost drowned out Jemma's comment.

"So you will just have to help me find other people to take pictures of." Skye reached across the table and closed the textbook Jemma still hovered over. "Come on, let's go." She stood up and walked toward the front doors, not knowing if the other girl was following.

"I don't even know you," Jemma almost shouted out after the stranger. Her eyes opened wide as she quickly brought a hand up to cover her mouth. She looked around, happy to find no one nearby to be disturbed by her yelling.

Skye turned back to the other girl. "This is college. Isn't that kind of the point?" The tiniest of smirks appeared on her face. She slowly made her way back to the table. "Okay, I'm Skye."

"And my name is Jemma Simmons," she said as she grabbed her phone from the table and stuffed it into her back pocket. Jemma hadn't had time to make friends yet. Of course she had seen plenty of other people eating together at the cafeteria in the mornings and heading off to parties at nights. She had seen people walking to the parking lot and driving off together toward who knows where. There were couples walking around with their hands grasping each other's. People kissing out in the square, going to watch bands play in the Student Center, riding their bikes or rolling through campus on skateboards late at night. She was never one of them. And she did not know if she even wanted to be one of those people. But here was her chance. Her chance to do it. And her chance to find out if she wanted to. She picked up the textbook. "Let me just put this back."

Skye reached over and pulled the textbook out of Jemma's grasp. She placed it on the table before pushing it away. The book slid to the other end of the table and stopped just short of falling off the edge. Without a word she wrapped her fingers around Jemma's left wrist. "Come on, Jemma Simmons."

Skye didn't let go of Jemma's wrist until they were halfway to the Student Center, which Jemma didn't know was Skye's destination. Skye's camera hung over her shoulder, tapping gently into her hip with every step she took. "Where are we going?" Jemma was interrupted by the camera bouncing off of Skye's side a little too hard and hitting into her own. Skye quickly reached down to grab the camera.

"Sorry," she said as she pulled the strap off her arm and moved it to her other side, letting go of Jemma's wrist in the process. The fall weather meant it was cool enough for Jemma to feel a severe difference without the warmth of Skye's hand around her wrist. She pulled her sweater's pushed up sleeve down to cover her wrist, hoping it would help. "There's probably some band playing at the Student Center. Or like, roller disco night." Jemma had never been to the Student Center. She'd walked by a few times, hearing loud music or the hollers of students having fun. She had seen students trickling in and out of the building, letting bits of sound escape with every opening and closing of the door. But she had never gone inside. She had never had a reason to. She had some ideas of what it would be like. She intended to check it out at some point. But "some point" kept getting pushed further and further back. She knew they were getting close when she heard the banging of a drum. The beat sounded a bit off. Jemma didn't know much about music, nor did she have too great a sense of rhythm, but she could tell there was something off. Skye held the door open for Jemma, who walked into the building, only slightly surprised by what she saw. A large dark warehouse type space covered in twinkly fairy lights. Couches and chairs and bookshelves filled with books and magazines and board games. A band that appeared to be setting up. Some girls in the corner, sitting cross-legged on the floor and playing what seemed to be a very competitive game of Jenga. Someone leaning with their head against the wall. A rather attractive black man walking toward her.

"Trip!" Skye intercepted. She gave the guy a light hug before turning to face Jemma. "Trip, this is Simmons. Simmons, Trip." Jemma took immediate note of Skye's use of her last name instead of her first.

Trip clasped a hand onto Jemma's shoulder. "Let me guess. Last name Simmons?"

"First name Jemma," the response more a continuation than an actual answer.

"First name Antoine," Trip mimicked. "I think it's a Skye thing. See, she doesn't have a last name so she has to make up for it by obsessing over everyone else's."

"I have a last name!" Skye interjected. "It's just completely hideous and I refuse to admit that it exists." She addressed Trip. "Would you prefer I call you Antoine?"

Trip laughed. "Hell no. Trip and Simmons will be just fine, I'm sure." He turned to face Jemma, who nodded slightly in agreement.

"So what's going on here tonight?" Skye asked. Her gaze followed the path of Jemma's eyes, perusing every corner of floor, ceiling, and wall, of the Student Center.

"Those juniors from the philosophy department are playing again," Trip sighed with a slow roll of his eyes. Skye stuck her tongue out and made a quiet gagging noise. "But I think there's a party over in the apartments if you're interested." Skye shrugged and nodded toward Jemma. Jemma, who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation. Her eyes and her mind abuzz with lights and sounds she had never experienced. "Hey Simmons, you in?"

"Sorry, what?" Jemma drew back to the company, leaving behind visions of students dancing until two in the morning.

Skye smiled. It was the second occurrence in a short period of time. Jemma apologizing for not hearing something because she was asleep or otherwise involved. She found it amusing. "Trip says there's a party over in the apartments. We should go check it out."

"Aren't you supposed to be taking pictures for your class?" Jemma asked.

"Oh, yeah, damn." Skye pulled her camera up and turned it on. She motioned to Simmons and Trip, telling them to stand closer together. "Smile!" Click. "Now let's go."

Trip led the way out the door. Jemma followed timidly behind him, taking the opportunity to get one more look at the Student Center. A large chalkboard on a wall, and a girl with a denim vest and a pixie hair cut sitting in a chair near the door. Skye trailed behind, camera still held up to her face. She watched as Jemma's eyes landed on the girl at the door. She put her finger on the shutter release.

Click. Click.


	2. Part I - Chapter II

**Chapter II:**

The party was in full swing by the time Skye, Jemma, and Trip made it there. Drunk kids hanging out front, smoking cigarettes and talking about Foucault's youth. Two girls sitting on the floor in the living room, sharing a pair of earbuds but somehow tapping their feet to seemingly completely different beats. Everyone with a cup of some sort of alcohol in his or her hands. Music playing from a record player in the corner.

"I'll go get us some drinks," Trip offered. "Beer okay?" Skye and Jemma nodded their heads.

Jemma turned to Skye once Trip was out of sight. "Your boyfriend seems nice."

If Skye had been in the middle of drinking she imagined she would have done a classic movie spit take. She would have had to apologize for Jemma for coughing out beer spit all over her shirt. "Boyfriend?" she laughed. "Trip is so not my boyfriend." But with the question Skye felt like she understood a few things about Jemma. Skye imagined a fairly sheltered girl. Raised in an average upper middle class family. Religious, maybe. Parents definitely leaning toward the conservative side. A little bubble world where girls aren't just friends with boys. Two thoughts went through Skye's head. First, she hoped she was wrong. And second, she hoped that if she was right then maybe Jemma could use a good teenage rebellion. "How old are you?"

Jemma was thrown off by what, to her, was a random question. "Eighteen?"

"You sure about that?" Skye questioned the girl's tone.

"Eighteen," Jemma repeated, this time with confidence in her voice. "You?"

"Same." Skye noticed Trip walking toward them, somehow balancing three full red plastic cups in only two hands. "Trip is nineteen." She waited until he reached them and handed out the beers. She drank some of hers before speaking again. She motioned toward him, but looked at Jemma as she continued. "He's a freshman though. He took a year off to travel the world."

"I went to Europe for a few months," Trip corrected her, knowing she was just joking anyway. "Got bored. Moved back in with my parents. Almost joined the army. Came here instead." Trip told his story as if it were nothing before drinking most of his beer in one go. "But enough about me. How do you two know each other?"

Jemma opened her mouth to speak but Skye beat her to it. "Oh, we go way back." Skye lied easily. "We actually dated in high school." Jemma's cheeks turned a pale shade of pink.

"Nice!" Trip said. "It's cool that you're still friends." Skye looked over at Jemma and winked, causing Jemma's cheeks to flare just a bit darker.

"Yeah, it's great. You know, even though she dumped me to go out with my best friend!" Skye continued the rouse.

"Goodness." Jemma let the word out under her breath.

And that was when Trip figured it out. "Skye." He drank the rest of his beer while slowly shaking his head. "You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"Absolutely not," Skye tried to hold her own. Her words told one story but the obvious struggle to keep from laughing told another.

"Drink up, girls," Trip spoke with a smile. "Looks like it's going to be a long night.

The three of them briefly made their way into the kitchen to refill their beers. They hung around the living room, just talking and laughing, until Trip got distracted by a pretty girl who walked into the party just a few minutes before midnight. Skye and Jemma remained talking, laughing, drinking, telling stories from high school and from their first few weeks in college. Jemma wasn't ready to open up. She stayed quiet a Skye regaled her with tales of school dances gone wrong, local newspaper articles about her and her friends causing trouble, skipping school to spend the day smoking marijuana on the beach at Coney Island. Jemma listened with open ears and an even more open mind.

Jemma had never skipped school, done any kind of drug. Since moving to New York she didn't even have a group of friends. Maybe it would have been different if she had found people to hang out with. Or maybe it would have been exactly the same. School and studying but with people by her side. Maybe she would have found people with similar interests. Or different academic pursuits that could only have added to her education and personal growth. Maybe they could have learned more from each other than she had been able to alone. She wondered what a different experience high school would have been if she had been friends with Skye. In retrospect it meant nothing. All she could consider was what her university experience would be like with Skye. Skye was the first person to approach her about anything other than borrowing class notes. She seemed nice enough. But as Jemma listened to Skye's stories she began to realize that they couldn't be more different. And maybe that would prove to be a good thing. But for now she felt like she had nothing to add to the conversation. So she resolved to find out more about the girl who then had stopped talking and looked at Jemma in awkward silence, seeking some sort of recognition. "How long have you been studying photography?" she blurted out.

Skye smiled, a bit taken aback by Jemma's off topic question. She decided to just go with it. Jemma must have had a reason to steer the conversation in such a different direction. "I took a few classes in high school. I basically just chose it as my major here because it was the only class I actually enjoyed. And I was kind of in a rush to pick a major."

"I'd quite like to see some of your photos sometime," Jemma offered. She was genuinely interested. Art was always something that had been missing from her world.

"Of course!" Skye was excited that someone might actually be interested. Even if it was turning out that photography might just be a hobby instead of a potential career. She pulled her camera, with had swung around to her back, up to her face and snapped a quick up close shot of Jemma's face before putting on the best impression of a pretentious artist she could come up with. "I'll show you my whole oeuvre."

"Oeuvre?" Jemma smiled and raised an eyebrow at Skye's ridiculous accent and use of an uncommon, out of place word.

"Oeuvre," Skye repeated, mirroring the smile gracing Jemma's lips that she focused on for just a moment too long. Jemma blushed again. Skye unconsciously licked her bottom lip. Jemma's shoulders tensed and she quickly finished what was left of her beer, eyes trained on the red plastic cup. Skye took a step back, suddenly aware that she had made the girl feel uncomfortable. She wanted to apologize but didn't feel like she needed to. Ever since her first love, a girl named Jessica with pitch black hair, dark eye makeup, and a penchant for slam poetry, has broken her heart Skye knew that she preferred women. She realized over time, however, that she had no ability to discern a girl's sexual orientation. So she resorted to flirting with girls she found exceptionally attractive. To see if they could be interested. Just to see how they responded. Sometimes without even realizing she was doing it. Jemma was definitely one of those exceptionally attractive girls. All soft curves and somehow softer curls draping her shoulders. Dimensional eyes and gentle tone. Strong as fuck eyebrow game. But clearly not having it. Clearly not interested. Skye was. But she was not about to jeopardize a potential friendship for that reason. "So. You. Major? High school stories of woe? I want to know everything." She spoke with her eyes focused on anything but the gorgeous girl in front of her.

"I'm studying biochemistry," Jemma responded quickly, ignoring the other question she hardly had an answer to. Of course Jemma was intelligent enough to be a science major. She was probably a genius and way too good for someone with such a questionable past. And present. And likely future.

"Biochemistry." Skye slowly nodded her head down, pursing her lips and slightly widening her eyes. She did her best to refrain from making some sort of flirtatious comment. But with a smart, pretty girl? This was going to be hard.

Jemma did not know how to respond to Skye's comment. On top of that she was still off put by the little moment that had happened. An image of the trajectory of Skye's eyes. Her own lips. Back in England she had received some attention from boys. She had found most of them immature and completely unappealing. She always figured she was too young and too busy anyway. There had been one who slipped through the cracks. When she was fifteen years old her parents had taken her on a holiday to Scotland. There she met a boy named Leopold Fitz. And she felt what she thought other people might classify as "love." But her scientific mind knew better than to establish it as such. It was that fleeting feeling of puppy love so common in kids her age. Nevertheless, she was sad to have to say goodbye to him at the end of the week. He had given her her first glimpse into the dating world. Her first kiss. She would always be grateful. He was so sweet and kind that and guys who hit on her after him just seemed ridiculous. But they had. And she had always laughed it off, never a hundred percent certain that they were being serious. She had never been hit on by another girl before. She didn't even know if that's what Skye was doing. Jemma had never met a lesbian before. If that was even what her new friend was. She decided that she would stick with the possibility that she had misread the situation entirely. She would treat Skye like a new friend. She would believe that that was the feeling on Skye's side as well. "Yes. Biochemistry. It is actually quite interesting. Studying living organisms can be fascinating. Though I know most people don't think so. I've delved a bit into other sciences. I have a fairly firm grasp on molecular biology and evolutionary development, but I am just so drawn to biochem." She stopped herself, realizing she was rambling. She had a tendency to do so when anyone expressed even the slightest interest in science. The look on Skye's face showed that slight interest, but mostly confusion.

"We had to cut open a frog in science class in high school," Skye said with a shrug. "That's the best I've got."

"Well, that's good enough." Jemma smiled. She looked down at her empty cup and Skye's eyes followed.

"Looks like it's time for another beer," Skye suggested.

"Another beer? I'm not much of a drinker." Jemma rarely drank. Her parents always offered her a glass of wine with dinner. Sometimes she would accept. She enjoyed a good red wine as much as anyone else. She was surprised to find out that she preferred beer. She wondered what her parents would think.

"Come on, Simmons," Skye joked, using Jemma's last name again. Jemma figured it would be a thing. That she would just have to get used to being addressed by her last name. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't hate it. It was almost charming. Like she was immediately part of Skye's group, along with Trip. "This is college. We're supposed to party or whatever. Let's grab another drink." She began to head toward the kitchen but stopped in her tracks. "You know what? I've got some much better beer in my room. Plus, you can see some of my photos. You in?"

Jemma had to think about it. It's not like she had class the next morning. And she had already completed all of her homework. She ran through scenarios in her mind. She figured Skye wasn't trying to kill her. Or sleep with her. Or subject her to any sort of weird torture. What could possibly happen? But it was getting pretty late for her. "It's already past midnight," she said, her thoughts audibly escaping through her lips. She watched as Skye's lips turned to a slight frown. "Alright, then. I'm in."


	3. Part I - Chapter III

**Chapter III:**

Skye's dorm was in the residence halls on the other side of campus. It was not a long walk, but it felt like it. It was spent almost entirely in silence. Skye was leading the way and Jemma was still questioning her decision. Eventually she just had to laugh at her self for being so trepidatious. Skye had been right. This was college, after all. She had been lost in her studies for so long. It really was time to find a way to unwind. A way to have fun in something other than academics. So maybe this is what it would be. Whirlwind nights with strangers. Ending up in someone's dorm. Drinking beer and talking about whatever they would end up talking about. It didn't seem too dismal. And by the time Skye opened the door to her dorm room, Jemma found that she was actually excited to be there.

Skye's dorm room was almost empty. There was the standard dorm furniture: a twin size bed, a dresser drawer, a desk, and a chair. A mini fridge next to the desk. But there was not much else. The bed was made with grey sheets and a flannel blanket that looked like the same fabric of Skye's shirt. There was an army green jacket hanging over the back of the chair. A laptop on the desk. A few textbooks and notepads on top of the dresser. The only thing differentiating the dorm room from a hospital room was the wall behind the bed. Twine rope strung across in a few lines. Black and white photographs hanging on clothespins from the twine. Skye watched as Jemma's eyes floated over the photos. "You can take a look. They're all mine." Skye walked over to the mini fridge to pull out two bottles of beer.

Jemma walked closer to the wall and looked through all of the photographs. A few of them were of buildings she recognized from around campus. But the photos were taken from bizarre angles. Angles she had never considered looking at them from. There was a photo of Trip in the middle of taking a shot, a wall covered with tinfoil behind him. The majority of the photos, however, were of a girl with pitch black hair and dark eye makeup. Sitting on top of a building with her legs hanging over the edge. Driving a car, photo taken from the passenger seat. Sitting on the edge of a stage with a microphone in her hand. Smoking a joint, puffs of smoke obscuring her face. Making coffee. Buying a pack of cigarettes. Puckering her lips and staring right into the lens. The photos of the girl were the most beautiful of all of them.

Skye walked up behind Jemma and pushed a cold, open bottle of beer into her hand. She wiped the condensation off on her pants. Jemma turned around to face Skye, their bodies only a few inches apart. Skye sighed and took a step back. "Cheers," she said as she clinked her bottle against the one in Jemma's hand.

"Cheers." Jemma took a sip of the beer. She felt like she needed to try it before committing. Skye had been right. Again. It was much better than the beer at the party. "Should we feel bad for leaving Trip?"

Skye's words came out with a laugh. "He'll be fine. Did you see that girl he was talking to? Smoking hot." She looked right into Jemma's eyes as she spoke. Jemma's brief moment of discomfort disappeared as she quickly downed half of her beer. Skye knew what she had done. She turned away and walked over to the desk. She drank with one hand and flipped open the laptop with the other. She opened up the Pandora website and music began to play from the laptop. "Sometimes in the Fall" by Phoenix rang through the room. Skye started tapping her foot and nodding her head along with the beat. "Cool."

It wasn't long before Jemma started nodding her head along with the music as well. She felt a bit weird about Skye's comment. But she knew it was okay for a girl to praise the attractiveness of another girl. It didn't have to be a sexual thing. She had done it before herself. It was just too close to the lip licking incident earlier. She looked back up at the photographs on the wall. And with that the pieces kind of started falling into place. But she had to know for sure. Even if she wasn't sure how she was going to feel about the confirmation. She decided to go for it anyway. She pointed up at one of the photos. The black haired girl standing underneath a lamp post. The photo clearly taken by Skye lying on the ground, looking up. The girl appearing intimidating with the perspective and a scowl on her face, her arms stretched out wide. "Is that your girlfriend? I mean, are you two dating?

"She was my girlfriend," Skye admitted, not surprised by the question. She had been less than inconspicuous about her sexual orientation.

Jemma, however, was surprised. Surprised by how little a reaction she had to learning the truth. She had expected something completely different. "Are you in love with her?"

Skye stopped dancing, somehow tuning out the music. She averted her eyes to the ground. "I was. It was a long time ago."

"So why do you still have the pictures?" Jemma went back to the wall to get another close view.

"Look at them. They are my best work." Skye took a few steps toward the wall, careful not to stand too close to Jemma. "What can I say? I was inspired." Skye was glad to see the small smile that had appeared on Jemma's face. And then she was done talking about Jessica. "Another beer?" Jemma nodded silently. She was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. The slightest haze.

"May I ask one more question please?" Jemma turned to watch as Skye walked over to the mini fridge.

"Fine," Skye responded, not exactly delighted. "Go for it."

"Are you sure you're not still in love with her?" The question prompted Skye to think of one of her favorite memories of Jessica. Hastily packed bags and a spontaneous road trip to Washington, DC to see one of Jessica's favorite bands. They had stuck around DC for a few days, crashing on random people's couches. Two cramped bodies not quite able to sleep in the small space and the heat of the beginning of another East Coast summer. They had resolved to do the most touristy things they could think of, as neither of them had been to DC before. They spent a few truly heartbreaking hours at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and spent the evening just walking around, completely numb. They spent a day touring around the National Mall, Jessica getting yelled at by the cops for continuously reaching past the White House gates as far as she could. But Skye's favorite part of the trip was the drive back to New York. Skye had been tuning through the radio stations available in that strange halfway point between big cities when Jessica suddenly pushed her hand away from the buttons of the stereo system. "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure was playing. Jessica sang along as loud as she could. Completely out of key and occasionally glancing over at Skye. It was the first time Skye thought that she loved her. The first time Skye knew she was in love. The first time she thought she had loved anyone. And it became the first time she said "I love you" out loud. But it turned out to be one of the last good memories of Jessica. When they got back to New York Jessica slowly turned into a different person. A crapehanger, pessimism taking over. Every ounce of light draining from her with each passing day. Until one night at a party Skye caught Jessica making out with a guy Skye recognized as the lead singer of the band they had seen play at some dive bar earlier that week. Skye tried to get over it. To make it work anyway. But in the end Jessica broke it off and fell straight into the arms of that same guy.

"I'm sure," Skye answered, finally drawing back to reality. And she meant it. Maybe once you love a person you love them forever. But even if that was the case. Even if some part of Skye would love Jessica forever. She was totally over it.

She grabbed two beers from the mini fridge, which Jemma then saw was filled only with beer and what looked like a slice of pizza on a plastic plate. Skye opened the beers and handed one to Jemma. She took a few sips of her beer before walking back to the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed and lay back, her torso camouflaged by the blanket, exactly the same as her shirt. Jemma got lost in the image. A girl just disappearing. She sat down and lay back so she was right next to Skye, their arms touching. Skye took Jemma's hand in her own, interlacing their fingers. Unaware that she was even doing it. Jemma tensed slightly before lifting her head up to drink some more of her beer without spilling it all over her face. But she didn't let go of Skye's hand.

They stayed like that for another hour, hands held and the occasional attempt to finish their beers without making a mess. And Jemma opened up. She found that she actually felt comfortable with Skye. Maybe it was Skye's honesty and seemingly open heart. Maybe it was the natural progression with the time they spent together. Or maybe it was just the buzz from the alcohol. She told Skye about Fitz when asked about her dating history. She told Skye about moving from England and how different her life was in the United States. They laughed together about Jemma being a biochem major at a liberal arts college. It was almost two in the morning when the girls' eyes fluttered at the same moment. A simultaneous telling that it was time to go to sleep. They were tired. Bodies and minds exhausted from a late night. And just before allowing sleep to take over Skye leaned over and kissed Jemma, lips gently touching. Skye was too tired to consider the possibilities of Jemma's reaction. The sigh that flowed from Jemma's lips was more than she could have asked for. And with that they fell asleep, hands still clasped together.


	4. Part I - Chapter IV

**Chapter IV:**

Skye woke up around noon, correctly oriented in her bed. Head on a pillow. Blanket covering her. Alone. She hadn't expected Jemma to still be there, but she was disappointed nonetheless. She changed into a denim button up shirt and wove her hair into a loose braid that she let hang over her right shoulder. She made her way to cafeteria, happy to see Trip walking in at the same time.

"Long night?" he asked as he held the door open for her.

"We fell asleep at about two. Not too bad. How about you? How did you make out last night?" She nudged him twice in the shoulder.

"Not bad, not bad," he spoke with a sly smile. Trip had always considered himself a ladies' man. And it was true. Skye had been the first girl he hit on who hadn't responded positively. They had met at a party during orientation. He promptly pursued her, mixing drinks for her and putting on his charm. She promptly laughed and pointed out someone across the room who was more her type. A hipster girl with a slouchy beanie and a lip piercing. Trip got the picture. They ran into each other at the cafeteria a few days later. Then at the Student Center a few days after that. So they decided they might as well try to be friends.

They made their way through the cafeteria picking up food from various stations. Skye ended up with a cheese quesadilla and a green salad with tomatoes and avocado. Trip was happy to see that the breakfast burrito station was still open, ordering one filled with eggs and hashbrowns and bacon. They swiped their meal cards at the register and found a table near the back.

"So, tell me about this Simmons girl," Trip asked as he held his breakfast burrito up to his mouth. He took a bite, pieces of the hashbrowns falling out onto the tray below.

Skye didn't know what to say. Should she take the question literally? Tell him about Simmons' life, what she was doing at SUNY Purchase. Or should she answer the way she knew he wanted her to. Tell him about meeting her, the feelings she had, the kiss. She decided to go with the first option. The safer option. "She is from England, obviously, but she moved out here with her parents a couple of years ago. She's a biochemistry major, but she said she has studied all sorts of other sciences. She threw out a bunch of words I didn't know. Something like evolutionary development and horology."

"Watches?" Trip interrupted between bites. He elaborated, noticing the confused look on Skye's face. "Horology is the science of watches and timepieces."

"Then that couldn't possibly be it," she laughed it off. "And why on earth would you know that?"

"My dad had a huge watch collection." He took a breath, about to continue speaking.

Then it was Skye's turn to interrupt. "Okay wait. Is that watches of a large size or many watches? Because there's a huge difference and it will affect my interest in the topic."

"Many watches," Trip answered with a smile and a roll of his eyes.

"Then consider me less interested," Skye noted.

"Anyway," Trip continued, trying to ignore Skye's joke. "He was really into them."

"Watches," she nodded her head. "Alright."

"Skye, you know that's not what I was asking about anyway." And she did. She knew.

"Honestly? We met last night. I think she's totally fantastic but it's pretty obvious that we are just going to be friends, if anything at all." She realized then that Jemma's presence when she woke up would have confirmed at least a possible friendship. But Jemma hadn't been there. Skye didn't know what would happen. If they would even speak again. If Jemma would just ignore her the next time they saw each other. Skye knew she had to leave it up to Jemma. If she wanted her around she would have to let Jemma come to her. She hoped that she would.

"Yeah, but is she gay?" Trip asked with genuine interest.

"No," Skye admitted with a tint of sadness in her tone. The kiss didn't matter. They were half asleep by then. It was everything before then that mattered. Jemma's body tensing at every obvious gesture of Skye's interest. The awkwardness accompanying it. Skye didn't want to admit it, but she had to. The kiss was just a one off that meant nothing. "Definitely not."

"Too bad," Trip shrugged along with his words. "You two would be cute together."

It was true. "I know, right?"

It wasn't until the next weekend that Skye saw Jemma again. Skye and Trip ended up at the Student Center on Friday night. Someone from the Environmentalist Club had organized a dance-a-thon to benefit some animal that was about to go extinct. Trip had seen a flyer for it earlier that day and invited Skye, thinking it would be fun. And a good place to pick up girls. The dance-a-thon started at 8:00 pm with the intention of going until 8:00 am. There would be a ten minute break at the top of every hour. If you stopped dancing during the night, you were out. It wasn't something Skye would think to do on her own. But it seemed like it would be fun with Trip. The entry cost was twenty dollars, all of which would go to the charity. There were some cool prizes donated by the school. Gift cards for the campus bookstore, tickets for upcoming plays the theatre department was doing, hour long tutoring sessions with teaching assistants working in each department. Skye remembered having seen an episode of some TV show where everyone participated in a dance-a-thon. She wasn't sure she could make it until 8:00 am, but she figured she'd give it a try.

Skye and Trip went up to the desk near the front, paid their twenty dollars, and received pieces of paper with double digit numbers on them. They taped the papers to each other's backs and made their way to the other side of the room where people were gathering in front of a table with some DJ equipment set up on it.

"Yo, yo, yo! What's up, what's up?" A guy with a beard and thick black plastic frame glasses spoke through a microphone. "We are about to get started here. You know the rules. All you have to do is keep dancing. Volunteer judges will be coming around to make sure everyone is still dancing. We're here 'til eight in the morning, so I hope you all did your homework and took a nap." A few people around them laughed.

The Student Center began to fill up. There were maybe two hundred people crowding the space by the time the dance-a-thon got underway. The DJ started out with some contemporary top 40s pop hits. After a few hours of short breaks and different music genres, Skye was beginning to get tired. But she was having fun. At one point during the disco section of the night she was visited by Grant Ward, the teaching assistant for Skye's 'Introduction to Digital Photography' class. He danced around her and Trip for a while but was gone by the time the DJ switched over to 90s one hit wonders. A girl Trip had hooked up with a few weeks earlier showed up somewhere in the middle of a song Skye realized had to be from some Broadway musical she didn't recognize. She watched, doing her best not to laugh, as the girl confronted Trip.

"Why didn't you call me?" the girl asked an embarrassed Trip. "You said you were going to."

"Yeah, yeah, I actually lost your number," Trip lied.

Skye watched in amusement as the two fell into a small argument, dancing through the whole thing. She had only actually hooked up with one girl since arrive at school. She wasn't about to include Jemma in the list. Whatever had happened with them certainly didn't count. Natasha, with her bright red hair and leather jackets, had attracted Skye the moment they accidentally bumped into each other at the party where Skye had met Trip. They spent the night together, but Skye knew that was all it was going to be. On their way from the party to Skye's dorm room they had even talked about it. They were on the same page. Skye was happy to know that if Natasha showed up at the dance-a-thon there wouldn't be an embarrassing scene like the one Trip and his one night stand were making.

The girl finally left and Trip turned back to Skye, his cheeks flushed. Without a word he continued dancing. Skye felt compelled to make fun of him, but decided against it. She was there to have just a good, fun night.

And it was somewhere in the middle of the Latin dance music segment of the night when Jemma Simmons appeared behind Skye.

"I'm gonna check out those girls over there," Trip pointed to the far corner of the student center. "You have fun." Skye didn't understand why he would just leave until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Jemma, dancing to a beat that definitely wasn't the one pouring from the speaker system. It had been easy for Skye to detach, emotionally, from Jemma during the week. Without seeing her. Without hearing from her. But with Jemma in front of her then, it all came rushing back. The small moments of intimacy that had occurred near the end of their night together. Holding hands. Sharing lives. A 2:00 am kiss.

"Hello Skye," she said with words not loud enough for Skye to hear over the music. But Skye could read her lips just fine.

"Hey," Skye said, her voice much louder than Jemma's had been, hoping Jemma would get the point. As if on cue the music slowed down. Skye looked around to see people coupling up, holding onto each other and swaying to the beat. "Well," she sighed. "That is just hideous timing."

Jemma let out the faintest of laughs and stepped closer to Skye. "Oh, come on. It will be fine." They placed their arms loosely, awkwardly around each other and danced, Jemma continuously falling too far from the beat and Skye having to lead. "How was your week?"

"It was good," Skye answered. It had been. She went to all of her classes, finished all of the photography assignments she had been working on, and played video games with Trip almost every night. The song transitioned to an even slower one. Something about happiness and "the one" and love, or whatever. Skye and Jemma found themselves closer to each other, their chins almost resting on each other's shoulders. "How about yours?"

"Lovely," Jemma spoke, warm breath touching Skye's ear. It was too much for Skye. She let go of Jemma and took a clumsy step backward, planting her feet firmly on the slightly sticky ground. Unwavering. "Oh," the word came out of Jemma's mouth like it was meant to be an apology she didn't quite know how to make. She had spent the beginning of the week mentally kicking herself for letting Skye kiss her. The middle of the week trying to figure out what to say. Jemma was sure she was straight. Not interested in being anything but friends with Skye. She had let it go a hair too far. She knew better. But something about Skye had pulled her under a spell. A couple days of processing gave her clarity, though she still didn't know what she would say. So she had spent the last two days half pretending like she was looking for Skye and half hoping she would not run into her at all. It would have been easy to find her. She knew where her dorm room was, after all. She just wasn't ready. And Skye could tell.

"Look," Skye started. "I know you're like straight so let's just pretend last Friday night didn't happen. Sound good to you?" It wasn't exactly what Jemma wanted, but she would take it. She knew Skye was giving her an out.

"Alright," Jemma seceded, any semblance of words she had tried to string together disappearing from her mind. She took a step closer to Skye and then stopped moving completely. "We could be friends," she offered. "I did quite enjoy spending time with you."

"That sounds great." _As long as you don't stand so close to me and as long as you stop saying things like that._ Skye forced a smile. The loud sound of a horn blaring next to them.

"You're out!" a girl with flaming red hair and a referee uniform shouted. "Hey, Skye!" The girl wrapped her arms around Skye's neck, prompting Skye to hug her back. "You two stopped dancing." She looked between Skye and Jemma and immediately made the wrong assumption. "Well, it's not too late for you two. Skye's dorm is super close to here." She winked at Jemma.

"Oh dear, no," Jemma started. She was interrupted by Skye taking her wrist and pulling her away.

"Good to see you, Natasha," Skye spoke before kissing the redhead's cheek in passing. "Check ya later."

Skye dropped Jemma's wrist only a few steps later. Even still, Jemma followed her. They snaked their way through the crowds, trying to make it outside. "Let me guess," Jemma spoke once they were away from the noise of the Student Center. "Jealous ex?"

"Not jealous, not an ex." Skye corrected Jemma. "Oh please, did she seem jealous? She basically told us to go back to my dorm room and have sex." Jemma blushed, that uncomfortable feeling sweeping over her again. Would it always be like this with Skye? Would she always be assumed gay by association? She had to decide then. Either she could say goodnight to Skye and not really pursue a friendship with her. Or she could get over it and stop caring what people thought about her. She didn't want to give up so easily. The latter option seemed so much harder, but she knew somehow that it would be the right choice. And even if she couldn't just get over it that quickly, she could fake it. She could deal with it. She looked down at her watch. Almost 2:00 am. She could deal with it in the morning, anyway.

"Another late night for us," Jemma commented, holding her wrist out so Skye could see her watch. "Maybe this will be the usual occurrence."

"Maybe." Skye didn't couldn't say it out loud, but she really hoped it would be. "Put my number in your phone."

Jemma pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it to Skye. "You can do it yourself."

Skye busily typed into the phone for a few seconds. Then she held the phone out and above her face. She smiled into the camera. Click. "Now call me so I have your number." She tossed the phone back to Jemma who fumbled with it enough that Skye had time to pull her phone out of her own pocket and take a picture of a still flustered Jemma. Click. She ignored the call from the unknown number and saved it simply as Simmons. She assigned the photo to the contact and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "Need me to walk you back to your dorm?" It occurred to Skye that she didn't have any idea where Jemma's dorm room even was.

"I think I will be alright," Jemma smiled. "Thank you."

"Goodnight, Simmons," Skye said, tentatively taking a step toward Jemma. She wanted to hug her goodnight but didn't know what boundaries there might be. She wondered if it would be that kind of friendship anyway. Jemma answered the unspoken question by closing the gap between them and wrapping her arms around Skye. Skye's body reacted instantly, holding tight to the other girl.

"Goodnight, Skye." Jemma pulled away more quickly than Skye would have liked. "I will call you tomorrow."

"Don't call," Skye said. Jemma furrowed her flawless eyebrows. "Text." The relief was more than apparent on Jemma's face. "Texting is always better."


End file.
